My five year old son surprised us this past sunny Saturday when he eagerly followed our instructions and  helped us cut up and compost our tomato plants.  Often our son does not want to do the garden jobs we ask him to do.  He prefers to create his own jobs.  Here is a list of my son’s top 10 favorite garden jobs:

1.  Hold the hose and water the plants, dirt, fence and sky.

2.  Dig holes in the dirt and bury treasures or plant cut flowers.

3.  Throw the inedible fruit into the compost bin and stir it.

4.  Place or slam rocks around the garden beds.

5.  Plant sunflower seeds and sit under his tall sunflower umbrellas.

6.  Hit the sunflower  heads with sticks and watch the seeds fall.

7.  Create a web fence for the garden beds by twisting and weaving string through sticks he staked around the bed.

8.  Find bugs, worms and butterflies.

9.  Cut something!

10. Throw something!

What are your little helpers’ favorite garden jobs?